Policies & Procedures

CHARTER

The Technical Committee on Communications Software (TC-COMMSOFT) examines methods and techniques devoted to advancement of the formal methods and tools, use of system analysis and design, methodology for development of communications protocols as well as application of general Software Engineering approaches for the purpose of development of communications applications. The issues addressed by the TC-COMMSOFT include domain-specific languages and practices of using them. Developing of “middleware” between networks and applications and the usefulness and usability of it is also a topic.

MEMBERSHIP

Any IEEE Communication Society (ComSoc) member can be a Member of the Technical Committee on Communications Software (TC-COMMSOFT). Two levels of memberships are defined:

Active Member

According to the TAC rules P&Ps (Section 7.01), to become an Active Member it is necessary to be the Ordinary Member and also to satisfy at least one of the following conditions::

– Has attended (physically present or by teleconference or via electronic means for virtual TC meetings) at least two of the regularly scheduled Technical Committee on Communication Software (TC ComSoft) meetings in the last five TC meetings during Globecom and ICC before election;

– Has contributed substantially to the TC activities. For instance served in last three years as an Organizing Committee Member, Advisory Board (or equivalent) representing TC SOFTCOMM for the major conferences endorsed by the Technical Committee on Communications Software, namely, IEEE Globecom Symposia, IEEE ICC Symposia.

The condition 2 should be decided by the TC officers

Ordinary Member

To become the Ordinary Member it is necessary to subscribe to the COMMSOFT mailing list as it is specified on the TC-COMMSOFT web page.

The TC-COMMSOFT Secretary is responsible for maintaining an attendance list for each meeting. The list of Active Members should be maintain based on attendance lists and information about activities provided by Members.

All meetings of the TC-COMMSOFT are open.

OFFICERS

The committee has the following three officers:

Chair

Vice-Chair

Secretary

The committee has three elected officers: Chair, Vice Chair, and Secretary. Each position is for a term of two years.

The Chair of the committee reports directly to the Vice President Technical Activities within the guidelines of ComSoc and represents the committee to TAC and to any other ComSoc committee or board meeting which requires representation. The Chair’s responsibilities include the support to ComSoc activities, the dissemination of relevant information as well as the promotion of ComSoc activities among its membership. The chair is responsible for planning the committee activities, including committee meetings, and is also responsible for managing the committee finances. The Chair shall propose changes to the committee policies and procedures to adapt the committee legislation to the dynamics of ComSoc. The chair shall actively promote membership programs. The Chair can replace the Vice-chair and the secretary upon approval of the membership at a committee meeting in case responsibilities are not carried out appropriately by these officers.

Vice-Chair supports the Chair in conducting the committee’s business and assumes the Chair’s responsibilities in case of his/her absence. The Vice-Chair is responsible for soliciting ComSoc Vice President of Technical Activities replacement of the Chair in case of unjustified or unacceptable prolonged absence.

The Secretary keeps a record of the committee meetings and minutes of the meetings, helps the chair to conduct his responsibilities and is responsible for maintaining the committee webpage and repositories. The secretary shall keep the membership list. Secretary of the committee will maintain an updated list of the committee membership. He/she will also maintain an attendance list for the members who participate in the committee meetings. This list will be considered a part of the minutes of the committee meetings. The secretary is responsible for soliciting ComSoc Vice President of Technical Activities replacement of the Chair and of the Vice-Chair in case of unjustified or unacceptable prolonged absence of both officers.

If position of an officer becomes vacant prior to the normal conclusion of his/her term, the position will be filled for the remaining term through a special election by the committee membership. However, if the position is not filled, for whatever reason, prior to or at the next regularly scheduled committee meeting, the Vice President technical Activities, in consultation with the current committee officers, shall appoint someone to serve for the remainder of the interrupted term.

The committee, at its discretion, may add additional elected and/or appointed (non-officer) positions for efficient operation of the committee.

In summary, officers duties include:

Chair’s duties:

– Plans and announces committee meetings;

– Conducts the committee meetings;

– Attend TAC meetings as the committee’s representative as well as any other meeting requiring participation of the committee;

– Delegates responsibilities to other committee members;

– Manage the committee finances;

– Support ComSoc activities.

Vice-Chair’s duties:

– Assume Chair’s responsibilities in absence of chair;

– Work with the Chair to prepare agenda for the committee meetings;

– Advise Chair on issues related to the committee’s activities.

Secretary’s duties:

– Work with Chair to prepare meeting agenda;

– Take minutes and attendance at the committee meetings;

– Keep a record of meetings minutes;

– Maintain a list of the committee membership;

– Distribute information to the committee membership (by email or other means);

– Maintain information on the committee’s website;

– Maintain the committee’s electronic resource repository, where members of the community can contribute source code, algorithms and relevant material for the membership.

NOMINATION AND ELECTION POLICIES

The term for the committee officers will be two years. Elections will be held every two years to elect officers for another term of two years. For maintaining continuity in committee activities as the term of the committee officers expires, the normal procedure will be such that the actual Vice Chair of the committee assumes the Chair’s position, actual Secretary of the committee assumes the Vice Chair’s position. Nominations and election will be held for the position of secretary. Past committee chairs will assist in identifying candidates for the position of the Secretary.

Nomination Process

An ad hoc nomination committee will be appointed by the committee officers to seek nominations for the vacant committee position(s). The nomination committee will be established at the committee meeting prior to the one at which elections are to be conducted. The committee will consist of at least 3 and no more than 5 members. Additional members to the nomination committee may be added from the committee membership. The nomination committee will be given a task of identifying candidates for the vacant officer position(s). The names of potential candidates must be circulated among the committee membership and officers at least 21 days prior to the committee meeting at which elections are to be conducted. All candidates must consent to their nominations and must show willingness to serve the committee, if elected. Eligible candidates for nominations for the committee officer position(s) are those who have been active members. Members of the nomination committee are not eligible to become a candidate for this election and next election. The nomination committee will be automatically dissolved after the election and installation of new committee officers.

Election Process

Elections for the committee officer positions will be administered by the committee’s Chair. In the case of Chair’s absence, Chair’s designee will conduct the elections. In the case of two candidates for the same position, election will be by a simple majority. In case there are more than two candidates, election will consist of a series of elections. At each stage of voting, the candidate gathering the fewest votes will be eliminated. This process will continue until only two candidates remain.

The voting process will normally be open. However, upon the request of any member, the election can be conducted by a secret ballot. Votes will be counted by at least two members of the nomination committee. The committee’s secretary will maintain a record of the election results.

Voting

Any member of the technical committee has the right of voting for officers. Normally, voting members in attendance at a meeting will be allowed to vote in elections as well as on other issues that need to be decided by a voting process. However, written proxy votes will also be permitted and arrangement for such proxy votes must be made prior to the committee meetings. A voting member present in the meeting will be allowed to cast no more than two written proxy votes. Electronic voting process will be implemented as soon as its details are worked out.

TC-COMMSOFT MEETINGS

Committee meetings will be scheduled twice a year at ICC and GLOBECOM conferences. Meeting announcements and agenda for the meeting will be distributed to the committee membership via email and posted on the web site at least two weeks prior to the meeting. The meeting times will also be posted on the committee website. Minutes of the meetings should be posted on the web site as well as distributed via the committee mailing list at most one month after the meeting. The committee always encourages conference participants to attend the committee meetings and join the committee membership.

FINANCES

The Chair is responsible for elaborating the budget and soliciting financial support for the committee activities. If approved, the funds will be used in accordance with the COMSOC procedures and the Chair shall provide to members a report of the committee finances at a committee meeting. The Secretary of the technical committee will maintain a record for the expenses.

AD-HOC COMMITTEES

The Committee chair can create and appoint members for ad-hoc committees which major responsibility is to advice the chair in specific matters. Ad-hoc committees should be published on the committee website.

THE TECHNICAL COMMITTEE CONFERENCES

The TC-COMMSOFT shall promote Conferences for disseminating the advances in the areas covered by the TC-COMMSOFT charter. The conference should have a steering committee which will guide the conduction of the workshop by its organizers. The SoftComm, the International Conference on Software, Telecommunications and Computer Networksshall be the official TC’s flagship conference. Moreover, the TC-COMMSOFT must actively participate in IEEE International Conference on Communications (ICC) and in the IEEE Global Communications Conference promoting symposia and workshops.

ENDORSEMENT

The committee will provide endorsement to scientific initiatives in the specific areas of the committee charter. Initiatives considered for endorsement includes: symposia, workshops, conferences, proceedings, special issues, book and book chapters, etc. in the specific areas reported in the committee charter. Approval of endorsement of initiatives is performed during a committee meeting. The list of endorsed initiatives should be published on the committee website.

SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS

Special Groups of interest can be created by the chair for the development of activities in specific areas of the committee charter. Groups of interest shall be leaded by a leader appointed by the chair. Active Special Groups of Interest are announced through the committee mailing list and published on the website.

LIAISONS

Liasons can be created by the chair for interaction with other committees / conferences committees / working groups / other bodies operating in the specific areas of the committee charter. Each liason will have a reference person nominated by the Chair. The list of liasons should be published on the committee website.

ELECTRONIC NEWSLETTER

The committee shall have an electronic newsletter aimed at disseminating information of interest of the committee membership. The Electronic Newsletter shall have one co-editor from industry and one editor from academia. It shall be distributed on the mailing list as well as posted on the web page. Electronic Newsletter Editors are announced through the committee mailing list and published on the committee website.

AWARDS

The TC has the following award

– Technical Achievement award.

The award includes a plaque and should be given at a TC-COMMSOFT meeting.
The periodicity of the issuing of award as well the TC-COMMSOFT meeting at which the award will be given shall be determined by the TC-COMMSOFT chair by consulting the TC-COMMSOFT Award subcommittee.

TC-COMMSOFT Award subcommittee

The award subcommittee is the body responsible for indicating to the TC-COMMSOFT chair those individuals to receive awards.
The award subcommittee should be composed by at least 3 and at most 6 COMMSOFT members.
The award subcommittee shall have a chair responsible for conducting the selection process.
The award Subcommittee chair and members shall be indicated by TC chair and approved by the TC-COMMSOFT at the first COMMSOFT meeting after the meeting the current chair was elected.

Any member of the COMMSOFT award subcommittee can be replaced by the CommSoft TC officers if not carrying out one’s responsibilities appropriately.

Eligibility

The TC-COMMSOFT chair is not eligible for any award.
Any member of the award subcommittee nominated for the award shall not participate in the selection process.

The TC-COMMSOFT chair shall replace any member of the COMMSOFT subcommittee award if the number of active members in this committee is less than 3.

Nominations

Nominations shall be solicited by the chair of the TC-COMMSOFT Award subcommittee at COMMSOFT meetings or via e-mail posted on the committee mailing list. The solicitation of nominations for the awards via the COMMSOFT mailing list and via the COMMSOFT web page is mandatory and should detail the nomination process.

Selection Process

The COMMSOFT Award subcommittee is responsible for indicating the individuals selected to receive the award to the TC-COMMSOFT chair.
Final decision shall be made by the award committee and approved by TC-COMMSOFT officers.
Decision shall be made in a period which will make feasible the handling of the award at the designated TC-COMMSOFT meeting.
Selection criteria shall be established by the COMMSOFT Award subcommittee chair.
The COMMSOFT Award subcommittee chair shall discuss with the subcommittee members the criteria to be employed.

The reviews, voting and any deliberations of the award subcommittee shall stay strictly confidential. No correspondence will be sent to authors of the nominated papers, and no complaint will be considered during the election process.
Each award has its own selection procedure.

Procedures for the Award Selection Process

Technical Achievement Award

Basis for Judging:

outstanding contribution over a sustained period of time or a breaktrough contribution.

Eligibility:

The nominee must have been a TC-COMMSOFT member for a sustained period of time.

CERTIFICATES

The chair of the TC-COMMSOFT can issue certificates of appreciation to members who have contributed to committee activities.